Leadership and Yoga by @shawnakru is the go-to hub of interviews and episodes for yoga teachers and creatives. Shawna explores creativity, confidence, and presence through conversations with top teachers, artists, creators, and thought leaders. She also creates captivating musical and poetic solo episodes.
Over the past 3 years, Shawna has lovingly grown an intimate, niche following of fellow yoga instructors into a major nucleus for self-discovery. She enjoys interviewing even “non-yogis” from a yogic perspective. Support Shawna on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/shawnakru
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Jordan B on Yoga as Poetry, Teaching, & Big Sister Advice
Season 4 · Episode 268
Wednesday, October 21, 2026 • Duration 55:31
Jordan B is a yoga educator and content creator, known for her “big sister advice” and her gift for translating yoga philosophy into practical wisdom you can actually use. In this episode, we talk about creativity in yoga, discipline vs. devotion, what makes yoga an art form, why Jordan calls yoga “body poetry”, and how to integrate yoga philosophy into your life and practice. This conversation feels as warm and personal as Jordan’s advice, full of gems for yoga students and yoga teachers. This episode is for you if you love yoga and are looking for ways to carry it beyond the mat and into your life.
OfferingTree is an all-in-one business platform for yoga teachers and studios. It handles your website, scheduling, payments, and marketing in one place. Try it free and get a discount with my link here! (My sponsor)
What I Learned Interviewing 100 Yoga Teachers: Abundance & Trust
Season 4 · Episode 267
Friday, October 16, 2026 • Duration 46:36
I fell in love with yoga because of a teacher at a dirty studio down the street, because of the ones who taught me to float and fly, and because of the teachers who called me by name before I was sure I belonged.
After interviewing over 100 yoga teachers—from living legends like Sri Dharma Mittra and David Swenson to daily studio instructors—I realized the real magic isn't in theory or instant gratification. It’s in the stories, the trust, and the willingness to keep figuring it out when there is no clear path.
In Part 1 of this mini-series, we’re cutting through the noise and diving deep into three core lessons on Abundance & Trust:
It’s in the living, not the theory
The relentless energy to figure things out (and why having "no Plan A" might be your greatest creative power).
How to move with trust, drop the fear, and recognize when you already have enough.
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, join monthly workshops, meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
OfferingTree is an all-in-one business platform for yoga teachers and studios. It handles your website, scheduling, payments, and marketing in one place. Try it free and get a discount with my link here! (My sponsor)
Sign up for Yoga Trade’s passport:
Jada @flowgogirl on Trusting Your Body, Creativity & Moving Through Grief
Season 4 · Episode 266
Wednesday, October 7, 2026 • Duration 56:02
Jada, known online as @flowgogirl, is a yoga and movement teacher as well as a content creator. Her love of movement is a contagious energy, and her passion for yoga and dance is clear in everything she shares. She inspires her students and audience to honor the gift of life through movement and to remember how lucky we are to be able to move our bodies. In this conversation, she talks about where her creativity comes from, how she trusts her body to guide her, her morning routine, and her experience of moving through grief.
the art of un-hurrying your life (lessons from yoga)
Season 4 · Episode 265
Friday, October 2, 2026 • Duration 45:22
Poetic lessons from yoga on not rushing. If you’ve been living on fast-forward, constantly optimization-obsessed, and terrified that slowing down means you’ll run out of energy or fall behind, this episode is your permission to stop sprinting. We’re diving into the real reason we trap ourselves in chronic busyness, why we’re deeply tired rather than lazy, and how to transition from operating on stress hormones and caffeine to tapping into true creative presence. I share stories from the mat, savasana, alongside reflections on yoga philosophy, the 8 limbs, and why yoga doesn’t take time, it gives us time. Plus, we explore poetic reflections on time scarcity, breaking the addiction to hustle, and five simple ways you can practice "un-hurrying" your everyday life this week.
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, join monthly workshops, meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
OfferingTree is an all-in-one business platform for yoga teachers and studios. It handles your website, scheduling, payments, and marketing in one place. Try it free and get a discount with my link here! (My sponsor)
Arundhati Baitmangalkar on Practical Yoga Philosophy & Teaching Yoga
Season 4 · Episode 264
Wednesday, September 23, 2026 • Duration 01:11:02
Arundhati Baitmangalkar is a Seattle-based yoga teacher originally from South India. She is the host of the Let's Talk Yoga podcast and owner of the Aham Yoga Studio. Arundhati has a beautiful, tangible way of explaining how to teach yoga philosophy that is both practical and grounded in yoga's roots. She shares her method for measuring "success" in your yoga practice (the "three C's") and advice for teaching yoga with heart. This episode is for you if you're looking for guidance as a yoga teacher or to feel re-energized by your own yoga practice.
Today’s episode is about how yoga gives us new eyes to see life, differently. To see things as they actually are, not as we are. Because every one of us has the filter of the ego on every piece of information we take in. We have distractions preventing us from seeing the beauty of what’s in front of us. We have AI and the mental noise preventing us from hearing the extraordinary silence of being alive. The extraordinary state of being present, perhaps for the first time in our lives or the first time in a while.
In an age dominated by AI, constant distraction, and hyper-abstraction, it’s easier than ever to feel disconnected from our bodies and the beauty right in front of us. Yoga is the ultimate form of embodiment, which is the ultimate antidote to feeling disconnection in the digital age of AI slop.
Social media workshop for yoga-inspired people:https://www.patreon.com/shawnakru/posts/social-media-for-167218388?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link
Find Shawna on instagram: @shawnakru - https://www.instagram.com/shawnakru
Shawna’s website - https://www.shawnakru.com/
Yoga Teacher Roundtable free community events & mailing listhttps://www.shawnakru.com/yoga-teacher-roundtable
time stamps:
00:00 yoga’s eyes poem
01:00 yoga is about trust
2:25 information overload
03:30 stories and embodiment instead of abstraction (ai is abstraction machine)
04:05 what ai really is
05:06 living as a machine not a human
06:45 ai fear mongering
07:54 yoga begins with listening
10:15 yoga poem 34
11:30 see through yoga’s eyes
how yoga healed my relationship with “God”
Season 4 · Episode 262
Friday, September 11, 2026 • Duration 49:48
This is how yoga healed my relationship with God, what spirituality is without religion, and overcoming religious trauma. I used to have a huge aversion to the word "God." Growing up with a religious background left me carrying so much guilt and fear that when I stepped away from church in college, I unintentionally shut down my spirituality and creative spark altogether. It took over a decade of yoga, deep philosophical study, and unexpected everyday encounters to reclaim what that connection actually means to me.
How yoga healed my relationship with God and helped me move past religious trauma
Why so many of us feel triggered by the word God or resistant to traditional religion or spirituality without religion
What texts like the Bhagavad Gita actually teach about divine energy
How to find sacred meaning in everyday moments, soil, and simple presence
Whether you consider yourself agnostic, deeply spiritual, religious, or completely unlabelled, this episode is an invitation to think for yourself, drop the rigid rules, and step into the sweetest feeling of all: knowing the divine within you.
Social media workshop on Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, join monthly workshops, meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
OfferingTree is an all-in-one business platform for yoga teachers and studios. It handles your website, scheduling, payments, and marketing in one place. Try it free and get a discount ! (My sponsor)
Deepika Mehta on Creativity and Devotion in Ashtanga Yoga
Season 3 · Episode 261
Wednesday, September 9, 2026 • Duration 01:04:47
This interview with Deepika Mehta, one of India's most prominent yoga teachers, is all about creativity and devotion within the practice of yoga. Deepika is a Level 2 Authorized Ashtanga teacher, trained directly under Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, is a global speaker, and has also worked in television and media. We talk about her creative process, spiritual practice, movement as expression, embodiment, and about the essence of yoga, which she describes as "arriving at stillness through movement." She also shares about a serious rock climbing accident that changed the course of her life, and how she found her way back to movement and yoga after being told she may never walk again.
when everything changes, the right help is already on its way
Season 3 · Episode 260
Friday, September 4, 2026 • Duration 54:06
Today’s episode is a lifeline and wake up call to stop fighting change (or wishing for it but procrastinating it) and a reminder that often the miracle is already in motion.
Change isn't a sign that you failed or that life is falling apart; it’s proof that life is making room. Before any miraculous manifestation or quantum leap occurs, the universe clears out what can no longer fit in your next season. The right help, the right people, and the exact resources you need are already on their way to meet you halfway.
Patreon: Leadership and Yoga CLUB. To support my work on this podcast, join monthly workshops, meet fellow listeners, and more… Join below.
Yoga Teacher Roundtable
Season 3 · Episode 259
Wednesday, August 26, 2026 • Duration 48:17
This roundtable episode brings together three yoga teachers from around the world to share stories of their most memorable yoga teachers. Those who have, in some way, made a real impact on their practice and their lives. These anecdotes offer valuable insights into meaningful leadership, along with a peek into some moments that have shaped their yoga journeys.
Here is the complete, consolidated set of timestamps for Part 1 and Part 2, filtered so that every section is spaced at least 3 to 5 minutes apart for optimal YouTube video chaptering:
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Praying to the Sun with a Stranger (Yoga Poetry)
03:59 - Who Today’s Episode Is For
06:03 - The Search for the Divine Within (Swami Vivekananda Quote)
08:29 - What Does God Really Mean? (Episode Agenda)
OfferingTree is an all-in-one business platform for yoga teachers and studios. It handles your website, scheduling, payments, and marketing in one place. Try it free and get a discount with my link here! (My sponsor)
OfferingTree is an all-in-one business platform for yoga teachers and studios. It handles your website, scheduling, payments, and marketing in one place. Try it free and get a discount with my link here! (My sponsor)
